Space Commercialization, 1983–1985: What Was Promised, and What Was Delivered (or Not)

This chapter is by no means a comprehensive report on space commercialization efforts from 1983 to 1985, and certainly not a comprehensive report on current commercial space activities. It provides a sampling of proposals and developments reported in SBN from July 1983 to July 1985, and much of the information in this chapter is anecdotal. The author focuses on areas of commercial space development that were hot topics at the time and avoids delving into the politics of space commercialization during those years. The author concludes with some observations and reflections on the status of “space commercialization” in the 2020s.